When the British Ambassador rang me asking if we’d be willing to accept the award of an MBE – apart from thinking he was joking – I asked him if there were reasons not to accept that I might not have thought of. We’d only just flown in from Africa the day before, and for logistical reasons were coming in by car from Southampton (Lizzie, her Dad, and the boys) and by train (Grace, my parents and I) from Henley. At least it will be golden.Ĭheck out the RollOnFriday Best Law Firm to Work At 2022, and the complete rankings.It was a memorable day in more ways than one… "I look forward to the real merge happening when offices can meet and interact in person and we start having our full firm 'dos' to bring everyone together", said a paralegal.Ī less optimistic solicitor warned that "the issue is Beechy selling his remaining shares, if that happens the business will go down the pan faster than a fully vazzed turd". Some staff said the difficulty of locating a culture amongst the disparate firms which now form significant parts of Knights was bound to vanish with the end of Covid restrictions. The future of the Golden Turd could well be golden, however. What sort of place encourages such ritual humiliation?" "You tell your story of how you’ve not been maximising your billing to clients for years, but now, with the help of, you’ve seen the light. "You may as well put a hat on which says 'I am a twat'", they added. "People are made to send emails or worse, stand up at conferences and 'fess up to not charging clients enough", said a lawyer. “Also the risk as a partner is nil as you have no equity.”Ī junior lawyer countered that actually they were watched very closely, and grumbled that "our hours recorded are scrutinised and you get a call from some over-promoted idiot if you’re not recording enough". Knights "actually micromanage much less than other firms”, they added. "It is very much the DB show", said another partner, "but if you play the game you are fine". "If you can tolerate that (not all can!) then it’s a really friendly place". "It’s a bit cult like at times - being critical of the firm marks you as a troublemaker rather than a professional considering ideas from all perspectives", said a senior lawyer. You are told what you want to hear to get you to do what they need", said a junior solicitor.Ī number of staff alluded to a religious atmosphere. "All information is clouded in secrecy until a certain point when you are provided with part or inaccurate information. Several respondents referred to a lack of transparency. One minute somebody is there and the next they are gone". It "genuinely is your core hours and the odd additional bit for market rates of pay", said a solicitor.īut, said another, "It is a very strange place. There was also praise for the "excellent" work/life balance on offer. A paralegal said her pay was "considerably higher than other firms locally. which is a very easy thing to say when you're worth over £130m!", said one respondent. "The CEO told the workforce during a video call that he is personally no longer motivated by money. "Our pay was docked by 10% without consultation and unlike other firms, we are not getting it back", complained a senior solicitor.Ĭonsiderable resentment was directed at the higher-ups. Some respondents were irked that the firm was able to buy up other businesses even during the pandemic, but was apparently unable to refund wage deductions which it imposed during the same period. I’d be better off in McDonalds", claimed a partner. The blunt verdict expressed by a junior lawyer was that Knights "only care about share price", a judgment echoed by other staff. The firm floated in 2018, growing its share price and acquiring other firms so proficiently that Chief Executive David Beech made £61 million when he sold a portion of his shares last year.īut that same profitability appears to have cultivated the seeds of the Golden Turd. Knights' poor performance contrasts with its stock market success. It ranked last in the RollOnFriday Best Law Firms to Work At 2022, with respondents from Knights recording the lowest satisfaction scores of all the law firm workforces in the survey.
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